Identity Cards Bill
9:25 am
Mr Des Browne (Minister of State (Citizenship, Immigration and Counter-Terrorism), Home Office; Kilmarnock and Loudoun, Labour)
I beg to move,
That—
(1) during proceedings on the Identity Cards Bill the Standing Committee shall (in addition to its first meeting at 9.25 am on Tuesday 18th January) meet—
(a) at 2.30 pm on Tuesday 18th January; and
(b) at 9.25 am and 2.30 pm on Thursday 20th January, Tuesday 25th January and Thursday 27th January;
(2) the proceedings shall be taken in the following order, namely, Clauses 1 to 3, Schedule 1, Clauses 4 to 45, Schedule 2, New Clauses, New Schedules and remaining proceedings on the Bill;
(3) the proceedings shall (so far as not previously concluded) be brought to a conclusion at 5.30 pm on Thursday 27th January.
First, I welcome you to the Chair, Mr. Conway. I look forward with some confidence to the Committee's deliberations under your fair and even-handed chairmanship and to the possibility that we may welcome both Mr. Hood and Ms Anderson to our proceedings at a later stage. We wish Mr. Hood well and hope that he will be fit enough to assume his proper place in the Chair before we conclude our deliberations.
I also look forward to an informed and constructive debate on this important Bill with all members of the Committee. I know particularly that the hon. Members for Newark (Patrick Mercer) and for Woking (Mr. Malins) and their colleagues on the Opposition Benches will contribute much to the debate as their party supports the principle of an identity card scheme. I hope, although it may turn out to be a forlorn hope, that we can persuade the hon. Members for Sheffield, Hallam (Mr. Allan) and for Winchester (Mr. Oaten) of the good sense of our proposals. However, I know that I can look forward to the support of and contributions from my hon. Friends.
The motion was drafted in the usual manner, after consultation with the usual channels. It provides for eight sittings and, while arguably that might not be a generous allocation of time, it is sufficient to enable proper scrutiny of the Bill. We are willing to review the proposed timetable and, if necessary, to add extra time on Tuesday 25 January to the afternoon sitting. That will happen, I hasten to add, if more time is needed because, despite the terms of the motion, it is open to us to sit beyond 5.30 pm. There is no compunction for us to finish at that time. Our principal objective is for progress to be made.
As hon. Members and you, Mr. Conway, will have noted, many amendments have been tabled, principally by the official Opposition. That only one Government amendment has been tabled may be almost unique, if something can be ''almost'' unique. Did someone say, ''It's early days yet.''? In any event, as the Minister with responsibility for the Bill, I am not considering tabling a significant number of amendments; I do not have a large number up my sleeve. I think I can guarantee that the number of amendments tabled by the Government could, at the most, be counted on the fingers of one hand.